Merciless
by Cottonmouth25
Summary: Moon catches a Mareanie, but it's more of a challenge to raise than she thought. One timely evolution later, and things are starting to look up. Based on my own experiences in Pokémon Sun/Moon.


**Merciless**

-.-.-.-.-.

 **Salutations, greetings, and many great hellos!**

 **This is just a short one-shot inspired by my most recent run of Pokemon Moon (my 5** **th** **time playing, lol) and how I was lucky enough to get a Mareanie for my team. I'm very fond of this little Poison-type – and that goes double for its evolved form.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon. Although that would be awesome.**

-.-.-.-.-.

Moon didn't regret catching that Mareanie.

She'd found the (admittedly) ugly little thing sneaking around near Professor Kukui's lab, trying to nab one of the Corsola that he'd been studying. In a flash of instinct, Moon had let out a shout upon seeing the many-legged predator, startling its prey away. Hissing with annoyance, the Mareanie had shot a barrage of Poison Stings at her, only for her Dartrix to knock the barbs away with a Razor Leaf. In that moment, Moon had whipped out a Quick Ball and swiftly captured the Mareanie.

Stella, as the girl had named it based on Rotom Dex's classifying it as the "Brutal Star" Pokemon, had since become a member of the team. While a little bit prickly at first, Stella had warmed up to her Trainer and the other Pokemon in due time, and had even played a large role in Moon's trial in the Lush Jungle by taking out the various Grass-type Pokemon with Venoshock.

No, Moon did not regret catching Stella.

But it could not be denied that Stella was a tough Pokemon to raise.

The Mareanie, for one, was not very large. Rotom Dex said that her species normally stood at around a foot and a half tall, but Stella herself was slightly less than a foot. And despite the multitude of poisonous spikes protruding from her tentacles, Stella was still a rather squishy Pokemon that couldn't handle taking even moderate amounts of damage in battle. Moon usually found her newest recruit hanging around long enough to set up a Toxic Spikes and maybe shoot off a Venoshock or two before quickly being disposed of. An exasperated sigh usually found itself blowing out of her mouth whenever she had to return the Mareanie to her ball.

Nevertheless, Moon kept Stella as one of her six team members all throughout her Akala Island and Ula'ula Island trials. They'd gone through some rough times – such as that insane Totem Mimikyu that flattened half of her Pokemon before finally going down – but so far, the journey was going very well. Almost all of her Pokemon were fully evolved, as she observed with substantial pride, leaving only Stella lagging behind as a rather weak Mareanie. It made using the Poison-and-Water-type fairly frustrating, but Moon tried to remain patient with her. She grew at her own pace.

After the umpteenth battle on Ula'ula of the day, Moon took the time to treat her team to a break with her Pokemon Refresh kit. She gave each Pokemon an equal amount of attention, grooming their fur and feathers or feeding them colorful beans as a reward for another day of good teamwork. Stella was the last in line, and she eagerly leaned into her Trainer's touch with a squeal of delight.

Smiling faintly, Moon lightly scrubbed the dirt off of Stella's tiny body and tentacles, careful as always not to prick herself on the venomous spines. After a few seconds, though, the smile vanished and she stopped her scrubbing to give her Pokemon a speculative look.

"You haven't been doing well in battles lately," Moon reflected, peering down at the Mareanie. "Compared to Soren and the others, you haven't been getting much experience. Are you okay?"

Soren, her Decidueye, looked over curiously and hooted his own concern for the smallest member of the team.

"Mareeee…" Stella hissed, her tone coming off as either unsure or nonchalant.

"Okay," replied Moon, going back to the act of cleaning the Poison-and-Water-type. "I just hope I can find a way to get you stronger soon – I don't want to you to end up left behind, that's all."

-.-.-.-.-.

Some days later, the Team Skull grunts wandering the graffiti-ridden streets of Po Town glanced up at the dreary sky in alarm as the sound of an explosion came from the mansion on the other end of town.

Inside, Guzma cried out in anger as his Ariados staggered out of the large crater it had made in his wall. "What'cha do that for, kid? I've gotta live here, you know!"

"It's already a dump in here, one more broken wall isn't going to make much of a difference!" Moon retorted. "Bugway, give it another Spark!"

Her Charjabug inexplicably rocketed forward, surrounded by a yellow glow and a nimbus of electrical sparks. His boxy body slammed headlong into Ariados' head, prompting a tremendous *THUD* and a painful screech from the spider. The Ariados threw itself onto its back and thrashed for a second before its legs went slack and flopped to its sides.

"Tch! Don't get cocky, kid! I'm the hated boss that beats you down and beats you down and never lets up – yeah, big bad Guzma's who ya fighting now!" the leader of Team Skull bragged loudly, perhaps to cover for the fact he'd just lost one of his only two Pokemon.

He sent out his titanic Golisopod, at which Moon narrowed her eyes. The first time she'd fought Guzma at Malie Garden, he'd spent time buffing Golisopod's attack power with Swords Dance, allowing her to knock it out with a combination of Charge and Spark from Bugway.

"Use Charge!" she commanded.

Even as the amusingly rectangular Pokemon started to crackle with electricity, Guzma let out a laugh. "Let's make a good First Impression, Golisopod!"

The giant exoskeletal menace moved with such swiftness that, at first, Moon thought it had actually teleported. All of a sudden, there it was, bringing its glowing green arm down on poor Bugway. The Charjabug went flying directly into the wall, ironically the same spot where he had previously sent Ariados.

"Cha-jaaaaaa…" he moaned, the yellow glow of its eyes dimming behind its blue lenses.

Gritting her teeth, Moon grudgingly returned Bugway to his Poke Ball, knowing that there was no way the little bus-shaped Bug-type could fight on any more. Already, a plan was brewing in her mind about how to take down Golisopod, but she'd have to take a risk…

"Go, Stella!" she cried, and released her Mareanie. Golisopod was slow and had already used up the chance to give its First Impression, so she had some breathing room for a strategy.

"Oho, what's this?" smirked Guzma, crossing his arms. "Little girl's got a little squirt of a Pokemon! What's it gonna do, poke Golisopod and me to death with those puny spines?"

Ignoring him, Moon commanded, "Use Toxic!"

"Swords Dance!" retorted Guzma.

Several drops of bubbling purple venom were spat from Stella's mouth, but the movement of the glowing swords as they circled Golisopod blocked them from reaching their intended target. To add insult to injury, Golisopod's ritual went off without a hitch, causing a fiery red aura to shoot upwards around it and boost its attack.

"Razor Shell!" Guzma guffawed sadistically, grinning like a maniac as he prepared to watch his opponent's much smaller Pokemon be struck down in one blow. "Get ready for another beatdown from ya boy, Guzma!"

"LISOOOOOOO," boomed Golisopod, slowly yet steadily stomping forward and raising its colossal arm.

Moon opened her mouth to give an order, but it was already too late – Golisopod was looming over the small Mareanie with its arm held high over its head, its claws lengthening and glowing blue for the attack. Stella cowered in its shadow and squeezed her eyes shut, ready for the devastating blow to come.

Suddenly, blue light flooded the room, causing Moon and Guzma to both flinch and cover their eyes. Incredibly, the intense radiation was coming from Stella's tiny little body, so bright that it made even Golisopod stagger back. Vaguely, under the illumination, Moon could see the changes overcoming the Mareanie. She was blowing up to four times her size, her tentacles widening and flattening to become rigid panel-like segments, her spikes lengthening to razor-sharp points.

When the glow had finally faded, the two enemy Trainers lowered their arms to get their first good look at Stella's new form. While she had previously been a smaller-than-average Mareanie, she had grown to become a larger-than-average Toxapex, four feet tall at the very least. The dome-shaped echinoderm lifted her front-most pair of legs and revealed her degenerated body – now little more than just a head with poisonous yellow eyes and a mouth crammed with fangs.

"Toxxxxxxxa," she hissed unpleasantly, her voice deeper now that she'd evolved.

Guzma cackled, claiming, "Ya think a last-minute evolution's gonna save ya? If that's what ya think, y'all are stupid! Golisopod, smash it with Razor Shell!"

When the Bug-and-Water-type raised its arms again, Stella slammed her "dome" back into place and allowed a purple force field to expand around her. Long, sharp-looking spikes emerged from the energy field right as Golisopod attacked. Its claws made contact, and the blue energy of its Razor Shell clashed dramatically with the Baneful Bunker for all of one second before it flinched back, roaring in pain.

Moon's backpack shook for a second before her trusty Rotom Dex made itself known. " _Your Toxapex hazzz learned Baneful Bunker, zzt! It protectzzz Toxapex from all damage while simultaneouzzzly poizzzoning the opponent!_ "

The girl grinned at the living Pokedex, remembering that Stella's ability was Merciless and that all her attacks would result in critical hits against a target suffering from her venom. She thanked Rotom Dex and allowed it to zip back to the safety of her backpack.

"Stella," she crowed, almost in triumph as she anticipated the knockout blow, "use Venoshock!"

"Toxah-ha-ha-ha," the Brutal Star Pokemon let out a slow chuckle from inside her dome. Her entire massive form suddenly quivered, before all of her spikes suddenly shot out thin streams of poisonous fluid that struck Golisopod all over its body.

The monstrous crustacean let out a howl as the extra-strength Venoshock bowled it over, the liquid gaining power from the very poison that coursed through its primitive vascular system. It moaned, then dramatically collapsed to the floor in a heap.

Aghast, Guzma's hands flew to his head to pull at his copious amount of bleached white hair. "Guzma! What is _wrong_ with you?!" he cursed himself in outrage. "You listen, kid, and you listen good. I'm gonna beat ya down one of these days. No matter whose help I need to do it!"

And with that, he strutted out of the room, the anger suddenly vanishing from him to be replaced with his previous cocksure attitude. He stepped around Stella and roughly bumped Moon on his way out the door, slamming it loudly behind him as if he couldn't resist the opportunity to get the last word. Moon scowled at the door, liking his abrasive demeanor just as much as ever.

She shuddered, his last words – _No matter whose help I need to do it_ – echoing with a strangely ominous tone in her mind before she shoved them away, to be mulled over at a later date. Right now, she had more important matters to focus on.

"Okay, Stella," she said, "what do you say we search this place for the stolen Pokemon?"

"Pexxxxx, Toxxxxxxapex," Stella burbled agreeably. She lifted up her tentacles again to show a crooked grin.

Grinning back at her newly-reborn team member, Moon crouched down to duck inside Stella's spacious dome and reached out to stroke her head. "I'm proud of you, Stella," she praised. "I knew all that time spent training you would pay off."

-.-.-.-.-.

 **Yeah, this is basically my experience with Mareanie and Toxapex. The former had trouble fighting a serious battle, but the latter was insane. With those wicked defenses, a Toxic Spikes, Venoshock, and Merciless combo is NO JOKE.**

 **I love Toxapex. Its design is flawless – I never thought I'd find myself so in love with a sea star – and references how hard real-life crown-of-thorns starfish are to get rid of. Plus its cry is… unsettling, somehow. It's creepy and weird, which suits this nasty pincushion perfectly.**

 **And my Charjabug was named Bugway because it looks like a subway car I'M TRASH I KNOW**

 **Anyway, please review!**


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